There are very few shows in the history of television that turned in as many iconic episodes as Game of Thrones. "Baelor," the penultimate episode of the first season, shocked audiences when it beheaded Ned Stark, who seemed to be the main character. "The Rains of Castamere" did it again a couple seasons later when it killed Robb and Catelyn Stark at the Red Wedding, an event that has now entered the popular lexicon. Episodes like "Hardhome" and "Battle of the Bastards" set a new benchmark for what an action scene could look like on television. But for my money, the best single episode of the show came at the very end of season 6: "The Winds of Winter."
I don't think this episode has the most shocking moment in the series; it's hard to top the killing of your main characters. But I do think it lines up more surprising moments than any other episode, all of them executed perfected. There are a ton of iconic sequences in this one, and they just come one after the other, never letting up until the credits roll.
Cersei blows up the Sept of Baelor
The episode starts with an extended sequence building up to Cersei Lannister's trial by the Faith of the Seven. We aren't sure exactly what's going on for a minute; if Cersei is on trial, why is she staying in the Red Keep dressed in black and looking down on the Sept of Baelor with a pensive look on her face? We put it together along with the rest of the characters: Cersei has no plans to attend the trial. Instead, she will kill all her enemies gathered at once in one fell swoop by blowing up the entire building.
The whole sequence builds to that climax, and every detail along the way tightens the screws; the montage of everyone getting dressed for the occasion; the significant glances shared by Margaery, the High Sparrow and others; Cersei swirling her wine. Cersei doesn't say a word during this entire scene, but she doesn't need to; it's carried by the visuals and by Ramin Djawadi's rapturous composition "Light of the Seven."
Do we like Cersei Lannister for doing what she did? Not exactly, but her move is so audatious that we can't help but stare. And the sequence keeps paying dividends within the same episode; there's a deliciously twisted scene where Cersei torments Septa Unella, the nun who paraded through the streets of King's Landing with a bell the season before, and a powerful scene where Cersei's son Tommen, knowing what his mother has done, chooses to take his own life. This is one of the best stretches of Game of Thrones or any show.
Jon Snow is made King in the North
One of the benefits of a long-running show like Game of Thrones is that it can build stories up for years before paying them off, and the level of satisfaction is huge. So it was with Jon Snow being elected King in the North. For the whole length of the series so far, we'd seen him go from an unappreciated bastard to a member of the Night's Watch to the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. He'd been growing as a leader season after season, so it felt extremely right to finally give him the top job in the land ahead of the show's endgame.
What's more, this sequence came right after we learned that Jon Snow was indeed the child of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, something he himself didn't even know yet. "The Winds of Winter" rides high after high right into the final moments:
Daenerys Targaryen sails for Westeros
In another example of the show paying off a long-running plotline, "The Winds of Winter" ends with Daenerys Targaryen assembling her many allies and setting sail for the Seven Kingdoms, something she'd been wanting to do since the very season of the show, before she had dragons, armies or experience as a ruler. She's probably been wanting to do it for most of her life, and to watch it finally happen signaled to the audience that the show was entering a new phase.
True, that phase would divide audiences; the show's final two seasons are by far its most divisive, but "The Winds of Winter" teed them up in a way that can't be matched. I haven't even mentioned some of the other sequences that fall right below the level of iconic, like Melisandre and Davos Seaworth having it out about the burning of Shireen, Arya Stark killing Walder Frey to revenge the Red Wedding, Cersei sitting the Iron Throne, or Sansa Stark delivering news to Jon Snow: "Winter is here."
It all adds up to the best episode of the show, and one that was only possible because of everything that had come before. In an age when streamers are cancelling series before they have a chance to build out a long-running story, episodes like "The Winds of Winter" may not even be possible today. Shows are shorter, so they can't build up enough momentum to reach these peaks. I hope someone proves me, because the more episodes like "The Winds of Winter" TV shows can produce, the better off we fans will be.
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